Illusions
by dragonsangel46
Summary: She took a long drag. “How did you find this?” “Same way you did, I guess,” he replied, taking a drag for himself. One-shot. Rated T.


**Summary: **She took a long drag. "How did you find this?" "Sam way you did, I guess," he replied, taking a drag for himself.  
**Rating:** T for smoking. I do not condone drug use/smoking. I do not smoke, nor do I reccomend it, it just added to the story.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own or claim to own any part of Harry Potter. All rights go to J.K. Rowling, WB, etc.

X

*~*Illusions*~*

Taking yet another drag, Ginevra Weasley let her eyes wander over the many sleeping portraits that decorated the hall.

It was a normal night for Ginevra, wandering the Hogwart's castle, always discovering something new.

She traced her hand carefully over an odd crack she found on a wall, bending down to look at it, examining all parts of the small crack. Ginevra sighed, blowing out smoke, and pulled out her wand.

This crack was not accidental. There were no other cracks on any walls, so why would this wall be any different? Ginevra looked at her wand, her cigarette butt, and back at the crack. She contemplated what spell to try on this break in the smooth wall, as no one thing in Hogwarts seemed to use the same spell.

"_Alohomora_," she muttered. The crack didn't budge. Ginevra shrugged, it was a long shot anyways. She thought silently, fumbling through her robes for another cigarette.

She came across and pulled it out quickly, searching for a lighter. She would have used her wand, but wands never allowed for a satisfactory experience.

"Damn," she muttered, frustrated. She grumbled angrily and tried to think of another spell to use.

"_Diffindo,_" she said quietly, pointing her wand directly at the jagged line. It sprang apart, the walls moving slowly to the side, revealing a red door, a plaque centered on its front.

Ginevra walked up took look at the plaque more intently. There was writing on it, which seemed to be in Greek. It said:

'_Μπορώ να βρεθώ όπου τίποτα δεν μπορεί _

_τα νεκρά άτομα με τρώνε όλη την ώρα, αλλά _

_εάν ένα ζωντανό άτομο με φάει, θα πεθάνει.'_

_Πέστε την απάντηση μεγαλοφώνως και θα ανοίξω για σας_

Ginevra sighed, immensely wishing she had brought her lighter.

She remembered learning a bit of Greek when she was younger; her mother had been going through a Greek phase.

She scrunched her eyes shut, ignoring her want for another cigarette, and tried to translate what the plaque said.

If she was right, it said: _"__I can be found where anything cannot; dead men eat me all the time, but if a living man eats me, he'll die. Say the answer aloud and I shall open for you."_

A riddle. Ginevra's longing for another cigarette was almost unbearable, and she mentally scolded herself for not bringing her lighter.

Ginevra bit her lip and looked up, trying to decipher the riddle.

_'I can be found where anything cannot…_' If something wasn't there, then there was nothing there. So how could it be there? Ginevra shook her head and looked at the next part of the riddle.

'_Dead men eat me all the time, but if a living man eats me, he'll die.' _Dead men don't physically eat… so how can they be eating it? How can a dead man eat something when the live man will die if he does? There was nothing. Absolutely _nothing_ to answer this riddle.

Ginevra had faced some tough riddles, but none that confused her as much as this one did. Like a lonely misfit, Ginevra sunk down to the floor unhappily, utterly confused.

"_Dead men eat me all the time…_" she muttered aloud. "So… hmm. It can be found where anything cannot. That's… nothing… absolutely nothing…" Ginevra shrugged unhappily and stood, preparing to give up, something she did not normally do. She turned from the door when she suddenly heard a loud scraping noise.

She froze. Was the door opening? _I never said an answer_… Ginevra thought, even more puzzled.

"What did I say? I said it's nothing. Nothing. Nothing?" Ginevra scrunched up her noise, dawning in realization that the answer was _nothing_.

She began tapping her foot, her need for a cigarette excruciating. The door opened completely, revealing a small doorway.

Ginevra smiled. Oh, how she always found the most exciting hidden rooms!

She walked forward confidently, stepping through the doorway, which revealed one of the most perplexing rooms she had ever witnessed.

It had dark, luscious red carpet with walls the color of a stormy grey cloud. There were red velvet curtains randomly on the walls, creating a medieval type look.

She sighed in contentment.

There were numerous black couches displayed erratically throughout the room.

Ginevra looked closer and noticed that throughout the room, there were some small alcoves, leading into more private areas.

Even more interesting were the unsystematic doors lined up throughout the room, each with an identical plaque to the one on the door Ginevra had just entered through. Each door had a different riddle, each leading somewhere new.

As Ginevra's eyes wandered over the striking room, she realized something. Although this room was decorated, however plainly it may it have been, it seemed to scream '_nothing's here.'_ It was if the whole room was only an illusion. The further you looked, the closer you examined, the more that seemed to appear.

She walked forward into the room, looking around, when she noticed a color that did not match any other colors in the room. And she smelt smoke.

Ginevra's early desire of a cigarette came flooding back. She looked closer at the color, realizing that it was not just a color, but someone's _hair. _

Their head was down and they were wearing all black, as if trying to camouflage them self. Ginevra noted that the hair was blonde… strikingly blonde.

She knew only one person with hair that blonde…

Ginevra flitted her way through the room, turning gracefully around couches until she was but one foot in front of the only occupant of the room.

Draco Malfoy lifted his head slowly, staring up into Ginevra's dark brown eyes. He let his eyes travel her body, lingering a moment on the cigarette secured tightly in her hand.

No words exchanged, Draco reached down and picked up a small, dark purple item. He lifted it up and raised his eyebrows, as if asking if she was interested.

It was a cigarette lighter. Ginevra's heartbeat quickened as she nodded slowly. He uncurled his arm out to her and she took the lighter nimbly. She lit her cigarette quickly and handed the lighter back to him softly.

She silently turned sat down on the couch next to him.

She took a long, contented drag. "How did you find this place?" she asked.

"Same way you did, I guess," he replied, taking a drag for himself.

"Hmm," she stated. She looked over at the young man sitting next to her. He was Draco Malfoy. She hated him, but in this room everything was…different. This room did something to oneself. It changed you. Not a permanent change, it was just… an illusion.

"Nothing," Ginevra said aloud. Draco nodded in agreement.

"Fascinating, huh?" He turned to look at her, his grey eyes penetrating deep into her skull.

"Oh, yes," she breathed, staring straight back. "Do you know what it was used for?"

Draco was silent for a moment before turning his head away from hers and taking a drag. "No, I don't. I think the only people that know the exact reason for this room are probably dead. We can only guess."

Ginevra nodded in agreement. She looked at the other doors throughout the room. "Have you gotten through any of the doors?"

Draco shook his head, blonde hairs moving back and forth. "I can only wish. They have… unnatural riddles. They're not… I don't believe they're all riddles. Some are, but some… I must admit, they're a bit unnerving."

Ginevra's brow furrowed. "How so?"

Draco sighed. "They… I'm not sure, to be honest. Some of them give me the chills when I read them. All I know is that they are definitely not normal."

"Normal," Ginevra repeated. "What is the true definition of normal? It doesn't really have one. There is no normal."

Draco turned to face her again. "You know, you're a very peculiar girl."

Ginevra turned, eyebrows raised. "Oh?"

Draco's mouth quirked.

"Is it because I'm a 'Weasley' and you're a 'Malfoy'? And I don't seem to mind?" Ginevra asked shrewdly, tracing light circles on her thigh.

"Partly. Although… you don't wonder why I don't mind either?" Draco replied.

"Well… it's this room. It's not that it _calms _you per se, but it does do something," Ginevra answered.

"It does," Draco agreed. "It's like… I don't know how to describe it. It's… nothing. I always seem to come back to that word."

Ginevra stopped tracing circles. "Me too. I just don't understand it." Draco merely nodded.

"So, how long have you known about this place?" Ginevra asked.

Draco looked thoughtful. "Not too long. Maybe a week or so. It's nice place to come when you want to get away."

"Seems like it," Ginevra murmured in agreement.

Draco chuckled slightly as he lit another cigarette for himself before handing it over to Ginevra, who lit one for herself.

"It's also a place where no one hounds me for smoking this rubbish," he said with a slight smile. "It's always 'those are harmful' and 'don't smoke those'. But to be honest… I don't really care what they do to me. If I die, so be it."

Ginevra handed the lighter back to Draco, who pocketed, and she was silent a moment.

"I get that too. And I know that they're bad. I'm not sure why I'm so drawn to them," she said deeply.

"Hmm," Draco murmured. He turned to look at the redhead sitting next to him. She wasn't paying attention to him, but was looking around the room with fascination. He studied her carefully.

They both came from different backgrounds, that for sure, but in this room, they seemed drawn together. Any and all thoughts that entered each other's heads about how they should hate one another were immediately dissolved away.

He focused his attention on Ginevra, examining her carefully. She seemed to be struggling. With what or who Draco did not know, all he knew was that there as something deeper about her. Something… dark. And hazardous.

He noticed, with a small amount of shock, that he seemed to be lured to her.

She turned her head slowly, coming face to face with Draco's. She quirked her eyebrow slightly.

"What do the plawues say?" she asked quietly.

Draco hesitated slightly. "Tell me," Ginevra demanded.

"…Okay. Well, one them says:

_No need for hunger, no need for greed_

_At last, my children, sit down and feed_

_I'll change one bread slice into nine,_

_And I'll take this water and make it wine._

_Your path begins today, my child._"

Ginevra was silent for a moment, thinking. "That is…odd."

"What is odd? Hmm? There is no real definition, is there?" Draco asked, half-mocking, half-true.

Ginevra ignored him, "I just… don't understand it. It's just so… unnerving, like you said." Draco nodded.

"Strange, isn't it?" Draco commented.

"'_My child'_. What does that mean?" Ginevra asked.

Draco shrugged. "I'm really not sure. It could be us. It could be the people who used this room before. Or it could be something supernatural. We may never know."

Ginevra sighed. "It's pretty amazing, though. Even if we never find out. It's… I like it. The feeling of not knowing, of it being something… unnatural."

Draco looked curiously at Ginevra. "How can you be satisfied with not knowing?"

Ginevra sighed. "It's not the not knowing that I'm okay with. I guess it's just the… creepiness of it all. I've always been one to enjoy that sort of stuff. And this…this is just remarkable."

Draco smiled. "I think I know what you mean." He stood suddenly, stamping out his cigarette.

"Well then, come on," he said, holding out his hand.

"What?" Ginevra asked.

"let's read the rest of these strange riddles and sayings."

"Really?" Ginevra asked skeptically.

"Yes," Draco said with mysterious smirk. Ginevra stood, stamped out her own cigarette and reached out for his hand.

Their hands met, intertwining fingers as if meant to be, shocking both Draco and Ginny with the electricity found between them. Ginevra stared up at Draco.

"Let's go."

X

Ginevra was walking in a contented silence to her first class of the day, reveling in what had happened last night, wondering if it was even real, or just a dream.

She thought carefully about the sayings and riddles that littered the room, trying to decipher some, enjoy others.

Ginevra also thought about Draco. The two had been very close that night, as if nothing could come between, as if they were never to be apart again.

She rounded a corner sharply and ran into something large and sturdy. Ginevra was thrown backwards with force, for she had been walking a quite hasty pace. She looked up from her place on the ground, staring into none other than Draco Malfoy's face.

"Draco," she breathed. He glared down at her at she stood up slowly, brushing off her robes.

"No matter how much you brush off those robes, Weasley, they're never going to get any cleaner," he said harshly. Ginevra looked up in Draco's grey eyes, searching. She found nothing.

"What, Weasley? Are you that shocked that someone can wear nice clothes and look clean?" he jabbed.

Ginevra stood, speechless.

It was at that moment, as Ginevra stood, staring into Draco's cold grey eyes that she realized something. She realized that what she and Draco had experience the night before, what they had shared, would always be confined to the room. The room of illusions.

The room that's nothing.

X

A/N: Okay, this little one-shot… I have no idea where it came from or why I wrote it. It was just one of those things that just comes to you.

I really have no idea what anybody thinks of this story, since it is so incredibly odd. I really love those strange and unanswered things in life, so I thought I'd try to incorporate those feelings into a story. Because, seriously, we can't all be dracademented's.

Also, this is story has not been beta-read, so I apologize if there are any spelling/grammatical/etc. errors anywhere. I despise those, but, alas, I'm human, and I definitely make mistakes.

The first riddle is from Riddles(dot)com, and the second is from Angelfire(dot)com.

So please, leave your opinion! I'm anxious to hear what you all think!

~ Jordan


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